


Pretty in a Lupine Way

by Anonymous



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Bellatrix is the wolf, F/F, Gen, Pre-Relationship, Slight Horror Elements, little red riding hood elements, mention of corpses, slightly cracky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-23
Updated: 2019-07-23
Packaged: 2020-07-11 23:17:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19936150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Hermione takes the usual walk through the forest, meets a wolf, and it's all a bit terrifying and absurd.





	Pretty in a Lupine Way

"Hermione, dear, would you take this over to Mrs. Figg?" Her mother presented her with a basket of medical supplies. "She's often in need of something for her joints, and I haven't seen her recently in the market."

Hermione put her book aside and got up, Crookshanks uncurling from beside her with a grumpy mew. "All right, mum," she said, eager for a walk. She loved the forest. There were so many different animals there, and the trees were starting to turn. The basket fit snugly on her hip. "Should we take her some bread also?" There was a fresh loaf in the bread box that her papa had made.

"Of course." Hermione accepted a cloth-wrapped slice and added it to the top of the basket. "Be careful out there, dear. Don't talk to strangers. Don't approach any wild animals."

"I won't." Hermione skipped out the door, pulling up a hood over her curls.

It was colder than she'd expected, but she kept walking. The faster she got there, the sooner she could get out of the cold. Figg never had too much to offer, but she was always ready with a cup of hot tea on days like this. Hot being the most important thing. The tea was usually quite bitter, and the one time Hermione asked for honey, she just rolled her eyes and said it was for silly little girls(and no, it wasn't because she didn't want to admit she had none, since she kept bees).

The forest was oddly silent, but that was no matter. The trees were starting to drop leaves and other things. Hermione stooped to collect a pinecone. She loved pinecones, even kept a row of them on her single bookshelf in order of when she'd found them, each with a diagram drawn on a bit of paper describing their origin.

"Hello, little girl. What brings you out here?"

Hermione started so badly that she nearly dropped the basket.

It was a wolf, fur so dark it was nearly black, eyes nearly crimson. Hermione stared in horror. "My mother said not to talk to strangers," she said blankly. "Or to approach wild animals."

"You aren't talking to me. You aren't even looking at me anymore." Only because the wolf had darted just out of sight behind a tree. "But that basket looks heavy. Would you like some help carrying it?" Hermione tilted her head to peer behind the tree at the wolf, and its teeth were bared in a terrible, jagged smile.

"No, it's fine. I'm just going to see an old lady across the way. Mum's a doctor sometimes. She even learned at a school in the city."

"That's quite interesting." The wolf paced restlessly, seeming bored, which gave Hermione an idea. Maybe if she talked enough, it wouldn't eat her (or it could just eat her all the quicker, who knew).

"There are other more dangerous animals in this forest than even me," the wolf said at last, interrupting Hermione's explanation of where the city was, in case the wolf didn't know. "But you are a nuisance, and I shall leave you to them, hmm?"

"Sounds wonderful," Hermione said, relieved. "Nice to meet you."

The wolf ran on ahead, not looking back. The rest of the journey was perfectly quiet, and nothing else approached her.

Figg's house was just over the next rise. The yard was empty of cats (Hermione was disappointed. The cats were her favorite part about coming here.) And her cabbage patch was untended. Oh no, what if...

Hermione knocked, and for a horrible, suspended moment no one answered. Her heart pounded. She almost set the basket down and ran home, but the door creaked open before she could.

"Hello, dear. What have you brought me?" She wore the proper housecoat, all covered in cat hair, but—

"What on earth?" Hermione said, confused. "Where is Mrs. Figg?"

The wolf smiled, showing all her teeth. "Dead two days, and I was hungry, so what the cats hadn't taken I finished."

Hermione gagged. "Were you trying to pretend to be her? You failed. Completely. That's the worst disguise I've ever seen." She babbled on in her fear, her voice shrill.

"Why don't you come inside? I've always wanted a house of my own and a pretty guest to entertain, but no one would ever let me in."

Hermione, inevitably, imagined a small wolf pup being driven away from people's front doors and chicken coops. And, well, what could she say? "I'm sorry," she tried, but the wolf just tossed her head impatiently.

"Thank you for telling me you were coming here. You would have run across quite a horrible sight if you hadn't." The bits of flesh caught between the wolf's teeth were awful enough, but Hermione appreciated the sentiment. What a strangely considerate wolf.

"I think I'd best get home—"

"No, no, I insist you stay for tea." The wolf snarled.

Ah, that was more like it. So Hermione carried her basket over the threshold, certain she'd never make it out again.

It was terrible tea, of course, but still better than Mrs. Figg's, since the wolf didn't care if Hermione added several dollops of honey. 

"Why don't you tell me about yourself,” Hermione suggested as she sat at the table. The cats had all vanished, god only knew where. Hermione tried not to think about it. The bed was empty, over in its dark corner. How the wolf could have devoured a little old lady so quickly didn't bare thinking about.

"Oh, yes, I'd love to." The wolf put her paws on the table and rested her large head atop them. It didn't seem comfortable, but Hermione preferred her there where she could see every move she made.

She was almost pretty, in a lupine way.

"I ran away from my pack as soon as I could. I joined another pack for a while, but their leader wasn't interested in me as a mate. His loss, really. I'm obviously the best material, wouldn't you agree?"

"Um," Hermione squeaked. "Yes?"

"Good girl. Now then, I left that forest, journeyed for a while, doing what lone wolves do—mostly killing rabbits and the like—"

"Oh, right."" Hermione had read about that somewhere.

"I'm good at it. But they squeal too much when they die, which would normally be fine, but I was nearly shot once, and well I couldn't kill the shooter and had to run off." She growled. "I'll get her one day."

"Oh, dear, vengeance isn't really—"

The wolf snorted. "Hush. What do you know?"

"Lots of things. I read books and study trees and—"

"Bah." The wolf had moved closer without Hermione's realizing. "You're annoying, you know, but you're not afraid of me."

This wolf was deluded, but who was Hermione to complain? Since she was, you know, still alive and all.

"I like you," the wolf went on. "My name's Bellatrix. Call me Bella. Try anything else and I'll bite you."

Hermione sighed. "I'm Hermione."

"Is that from a book?"

"From a play, actually." Hermione smiled.

"It's kind of nice, I guess." Bella gave a wolfish little smile that Hermione liked, despite herself.

"My mum will start to wonder where I've gone," she dared to say. "I'd be happy to see you again, if you let me go now."

Bella leaned close enough that her snout nearly touched Hermione's nose. "You promise?"

Hermione nodded vigorously.

"Okay then." Hermione stood as Bella moved away, glancing around sadly at all of Mrs. Figg's effects. A hairbrush, never to be used again. Cat hair. So much cat hair.

"She was old," Bella said reasonably. "Don't be sad."

Hermione managed a smile.

"Come back tomorrow? I mean if you don’t, I'll come and find you but—"

"I'll be here, or, er, can we meet in the forest? This place is giving me the creeps."

"Fine." Bella drooped.

She followed Hermione home, to protect from other animals, she said.

"Oh good, you made it back!" Hermione's mum gave her a hug. "How was she?"

"Dead," Hermione said. "Animals already ate the corpse." And she started to cry.

"Oh, sweetheart!" The embrace tightened.

Hermione knew she should say something about the wolf, but Bella hadn't hurt her yet. So she said nothing. Tomorrow couldn't come too soon.

**Author's Note:**

> As with several of my fics, I blame Angela Carter.


End file.
